Where the Fox Was Tamed
by moral2
Summary: This is where the fox was tamed.


_**I originally wrote this two years ago on touhou-project. Someone already posted it here on FFN, but I guess I'll post it again. Polished it up a bit, too.**_

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The gentle winds of autumn blow the stray hairs off Yukari's face. The forest is alive in its death: crickets chirp restlessly in the afternoon and the leaves change color in their demise. The sun teeters on the edge of the horizon, just barely dipping under the ground. The daisies and dahlias all fall limp and begin their seasonal slumber. The colors that were vivid from months past are now dry and dead. The trees, stripped of their leaves, are bare; naked.

Almost as naked as the youkai crawling out of the brush. She throws out her wild hair, shaking away the leaves that stick to her head. Two fluffy tails are all that conceals her naked body, though not by much. The bush rustles as she kicks off the foliage that cling to her feet. "Hello!" she sings, waving at Yukari. The girl had no sense of shame; she made no motion to cover herself. "Have you come to visit me?"

Yukari raises a single eyebrow at the strange fox-girl. "Fox, by what basis would you even think that? We have known each other for only a few seconds."

The fox youkai smiles at the clothed woman, her yellow eyes tracing over her new acquaintance. "You are here, and I am here. I think that circumstance by coincidence is reason enough."

Yukari is both entranced and vexed by this whimsical girl. The more Yukari wishes to know, the more irritated she feels. "So," she asks, "Are you a friend or are you an enemy?"

"Neither," the fox girl quips. A wild grin tugs at the fox youkai's lips. "I do not even know you."

"But you thought I was coming to visit you," Yukari replies impatiently, huffing at the fox.

The young youkai claps enthusiastically. "Yes! That is absolutely correct!" She beams with childish energy. The fox tiptoes and leans forward to directly look into Yukari's eyes. "But I do not know you yet. 'Yet' is the keyword here."

"Oh," Yukari exhales, "You are a very troublesome little girl. Has anybody ever told you this?"

"No, never!" The fox responds with a bright smile. "It's because I am here alone, all by myself! You are actually the first person that I have met." She puffs out her chest proudly, but all it does is flaunt her exposed body. Yukari's doubtful expression prompts her to reply again. "Honest! All the other foxes never spoke for some reason. Probably because they are just foxes - most definitely not as clever as I!" She puffs out her chest again.

The border youkai opens a rift in the dimension, pulling out a white dress with blue print in the front. "I understand, little one. So please cover yourself up with this. I do not need you to flail your naked body around." She throws the dress, draping the fox youkai with the garment. "It is one of my old ones, but I shall permit you to wear it."

"An old what?" The fox speaks underneath the dress, muffling her voice. "I do not know what this thing is."

"Oh, for gods' sake." Yukari grabs the dress abruptly, pulling it over the fox. Unkempt yellow hair and two fox ears pop out of the head-hole. Golden eyes shine eagerly at the border youkai.

"What's this, what's this?" She bounces up and down in her lengthy dress. The sleeves, along with the rest of her clothing, spill to the ground. "Is it a new kind of cage? Are you going to eat me?" she giddily questions, not in the least bit worried at her well-being.

"No, no." Yukari shakes her head with conviction. "It is a dress, fox. It is a gift for you to wear."

The fox inches closer to Yukari. "A gift!" She clasps her hands in embarrassment, blushing. "I have never received a gift before! This is very exciting!" The little youkai does a twirl, spinning the dress in the wind. The setting sun paints the fox in a radiant shine.

"Beautiful. But please," says Yukari, pulling the dress down for the girl. "Do not do that."

"Ah. I realize now that we're already at touching distance." She takes a minute to think, sitting very still. Then her curious, round eyes light up. "I understand now! You wish to tame me."

Yukari crosses her arms in confusion. "Tame? What do you mean?"

" _Domesticate, cooperate, make contact and then a contract_!" She recites this by song. "To tame is to establish ties."

"Establish ties?" Yukari asks, intrigued by the discussion.

"Indeed," she nods. "Many generations ago, a wise fox once uttered those words."

"I see." Yukari broods, tracing the fox's face with her fingertips. The girl allows Yukari to do so but fidgets during the process. "But why are you so eager to be tamed?"

"Because! You are nothing to me," the fox replies coolly. "You are nothing more than another resident of Gensokyo. I don't need you; I don't even need to talk to you. You do not have the right to care about me. And I, you." The fox's wishful eyes glint in the setting sun. "But if you tame me, we will need each other. We will care for each other. Then you shall be my master, and I shall be your loyal companion. I shall live for you, and you shall support me. We will depend on each other."

"Clever fox, you." Yukari endearingly brushes aside the girl's rough blond locks. "Have you always been so delightfully charming?"

"Not in the slightest! Before, I have always been a fox. Only recently have I become... this! Whatever I am." The girl looks up at Yukari with expectant eyes. "I am very useless right now! Between being a fox and a not-fox, I do not know how to hunt and I fear I may die of starvation soon! It has been a couple of days."

"Attacking me with my own sympathy, are you?" Yukari shakes her head and chuckles. She cannot believe this fox youkai. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Two golden eyes greet Yukari. They glimmer in the way a child's eyes would. "Doing what?"

"Never mind." The border youkai closes her eyes briefly. She sucks in a breath before opening her eyes again. "Then, I shall tame you."

"Yay!" The fox jumps up unsteadily.

She is tamed.

"You are tamed." Yukari declares. "Do you have a name?"

"I will entrust you to give me a proper one." The fox says.

The border youkai pauses, thinking of a suitable name for the fox. "Ran." She unsteadily pauses. "Ran Yakumo. I shall bestow you my family name. You are Ran Yakumo, companion of Yukari Yakumo."

"Ran. I am Ran Yakumo!" The fox, now Ran Yakumo, cheers her own name.

The sun, dipping completely below the horizon, disappears and allows the dark of the evening to take over. "It is night. I shall take my leave."

"I shall cry as you depart, my most cherished Yukari." Ran looks toward her master, tears already forming in her golden eyes.

"Why should you cry, fox?" Yukari asks Ran.

"Because I am tamed and my master must leave." Ran answers Yukari.

"Even though you said I should tame you?" said the master.

"Yes," replied her companion.

Yukari kneels down to address her fox. "Then why did you ask me to tame you?"

"Because I care for you." The little fox declares this as simply as one would declare their dinner plans.

"But," Yukari says, "you did not before."

"I did not." With a smile, Ran adds, "But I do now. You run the risk of crying if you let yourself be tamed, but you also run the risk of finding happiness."

"And what _is_ that happiness, young one?"

The young youkai looks up at her master, then down at her clothes. "I believe that happiness can be found in the gifts one is given and in the time that one spends with their master."

"Dear Ran." Yukari stands up, turning her back to the fox. "What if I I said that you were to come along with me?"

The fox's eyes shimmer in the darkness. "I would follow!"

"Then," Yukari said uneasily, "come along."

"Remember this truth, then!" Ran announces, tagging along beside her master. "You are responsible for what you have tamed. Be it good or bad, you are now responsible for your fox!"

Yukari smiles and grabs the young Ran's hand. The fox in turn squeezes back tightly, walking closer to the border youkai. An unusual rift in the dimension opens, but the girl does not jump back in fear. Her master is with her. Yet she sniffles a little.

"What is wrong, dear fox?" Yukari soothes her companion.

"I am happy," replies Ran Yakumo.

Yukari Yakumo nods slowly, "I see."

They enter the gap. In the cold wind of the autumn night, the forest is quiet in its death: not one cricket is chirping. The blue moon draws attention to the silence of the trees. The daisies and dahlias disappear in the black night.

This is where the fox was tamed.


End file.
